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January 18, 2012

ISU, prof receive patent for agent that boosts immune system

Jennifer Sicking Indiana State media relations The Tribune Star Wed Jan 18, 2012, 05:04 AM EST

TERRE HAUTE — While conducting research on cancer, Swapan Ghosh and a team of graduate and doctoral students discovered a phytol-derived adjuvant. That adjuvant formula just became U.S. Patent No. 8,088,395.

“I’m so excited,” said Ghosh, Indiana State University professor of biology, about the completion of the process that began in 2006. The patent is in place for 24 years and the university will now begin marketing it to pharmaceutical companies. “We believe that this adjuvant will be useful in humans. We think this is possibly one of the best in boosting the immune system.”

Vaccines, which are used to enhance an immune system, need an agent — an adjuvant — to assist in deploying them. Alum has been widely used for years, but has come under attack as a possible cause for neurological disorders.

“A few adjuvants have been discovered, but they have side effects. We were trying to develop something that has fewer side effects, but boosts the immune system,” Ghosh said. “Our compound is an excellent boost to the immune system and we haven’t detected any side effects.”

The compound could be used to boost immunity in cancer patients, in veterinary clinics, aid in fighting infectious agents and be used in preparing laboratory agents and diagnostic kits, Ghosh said.

Chlorophyll creates the green color in green vegetables and one of its two components is phytol.

“Phytol is one of the most widely occurring natural compounds,” Ghosh said. “People have tried phytol as an adjuvant, but it can be toxic. We used chemically modified phytol compounds.”

Chemistry professors Richard Kjonaas and Richard Fitch assisted in modifying the compound. Students, from undergraduates to doctoral, also have worked on the project gaining real-world research experience with their education.

The adjuvant builds on a previous find by Ghosh and his team of students. That find resulted in patent number 7,642,045 for a biomarker that could aid in determining disease. “This complements the previous one in which we could monitor the progress in the activation of the immune system,” Ghosh said.

Research on the adjuvant has been published in the peer-reviewed journals BMC Immunology (2011), Cellular Immunology (2011), The Open Vaccine Journal (2010) and the Journal of Immune-Based Therapies and Vaccines (2006).

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Copyright 2012 News From Terre Haute, Indiana. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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